About the Writer

Welcome to this blog, as I introduce myself to some and send peace to many others. My name is Malchishuah New. And, yes, everything I knew is gone.

Born and raised an Ethiopian Hebrew, I honestly cannot recount how I came to know the knowledge of Jesus Christ. No one had ever preached to me about Him. I certainly was not taught about His grace and salvation in a book. And I can’t recall ever encountering someone who said they would be “praying for me.”

All I know is that at a young age there was this inner hunger, a “strong pull” drawing me closer to the love of Jesus Christ.

At the age of 17, I surrendered to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who somehow found His way behind my locked bedroom door. There I was trying to fan the fumes of weed smoke out of my window before my parents came home.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was reeking with fear, guilt, shame and, of course, the agonizing aroma of marijuana.

Then He hit me. I crashed to the floor on my knees and began to weep like a baby. His presence overtook me, somehow reminding me that I was still loved.

For the next 9 years, I tried to bury what took place in my bedroom inside my heart. As I graced the grounds of the Tabernacle, Sabbath in and Sabbath out, I felt like somewhat of a misfit, an imposter, a secret spy. As I was being taught the Jewish Law (and the Doctrines of Men), I still had this hidden desire to know Jesus Christ.

One Sabbath morning, at the age of 26, while sitting restlessly in my seat during service, I was moved to boldly stand up and openly profess that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior.

How can something so frightening bring so much joy? That day I suffered the brunt of persecution. I saw soft hearts turn hard and cold in some of my warmest family and friends.

Nevertheless, from that day forward, I vowed never to look back, trusting that God was leading me to a new life. And this He did.

At the age of 29, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, confirming the acceptance of the Holy Spirit. Though it took me 12 years to get from one point to another, God has a plan from beginning to end.

This is where the turning point began. There was a gulf between the time Christ found me and when I found the truth. During this timeframe, I became committed to the Great Whore, believing I was doing God-service.

Coming from such a rigid upbringing, it was easy for me to adapt to this system. I would give “service” my all, not realizing that the Lord was standing afar off broken-hearted and jealous for my love. Satan laid a trap while God had a plan.

Against the counsel of the Lord, I prematurely married my husband. I grabbed a hold of my husband out of fear, running for Jesus and away from my past. At this stage in my life, I was not prepared for marriage, while my husband had problems of his own.

My husband and I, along with our daughters, were attending a church. We were going through some rough times.

While under the Great Whore’s influence, I fell into the trap. My family was severed. I take full responsibility for my actions and lack of discernment.

The truth is, I was blinded and drunk with her wine. Before I knew it, I hit rock bottom. Unfortunately, this is where the Great Whore takes all of her patrons.

Amazingly, “the great fall” introduced me to God’s grace and wisdom, as He prepared me for recovery. Recovery is an individual process. We must all walk through this process in order to be restored.

At first it may feel like you are stuck in time — almost like a prison. You may experience anger on some levels, as I did. You may, then, move into a place of regret and depression. Then, finally into hope, with a fixed expectation towards release.

Unlike man, God is a righteous judge, and He considers all sides of every case. No one escapes correction in these types of situations.

Although I continued to scream “victim” during my time spent in the Great Whore, God holds everyone accountable for their actions, giving each person their measure of chastisement. He takes into consideration the weak and the strong, positions and authority. God judges everyone righteously after the manner of one’s heart.

Caught in between the wilderness and the promised land, the waiting felt unbearable. I personally have been waiting 5 years for my deliverance and justification. But we must trust and believe that God’s hand of deliverance will come through at just the right time. You will not be stuck in this place forever.

Where is all this mayhem taking us? TOWARDS REDEMPTION.

Redemption is where God rights every wrong. He restores what has been taken and recovers what has been lost. He rewards the faithful and punishes the fearful.

God goes beyond your wildest imagination of what recovery can look like on the way out of the storm. You will be beyond recognition. You will look BRAND NEW. You will become a hallmark for the Kingdom of God with a testimony that will change everyone around you.

Yes, there will come a time when you will look back on this situation and will remember the pain no more. The Lord will give you a NEW LIFE in THIS LIFE. The old will pass away and a new life will begin.

I had no idea that the Lord’s commission to “forsake all” was literal. The Holy Spirit silently whispered to my heart, “Malchishuah, if you desire to become “new” then everything you once “knew” must be tossed away.”

On January 13, 2012, I was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness. I walked away from my profession, my home, my family and friends, my hopes, ambitions and dreams. I surrendered my life to God in the face of adversity, pain, persecution and fear.

At times I felt like a complete idiot. And I was. An idiot on fire for Christ. Suffering a traumatic divorce some 4 years earlier, I was a walking spectacle, subject to ridicule and open shame.

After God’s peculiar promise that He would bring me into “the blessed place,” I was led into the wilderness instead. What a setup. Or should I say upset. I felt somewhat betrayed.

My girls and I wandered from pillar to post. Yes, it’s true. There were times when we feasted on dry cereal from the trunk of the car, then tucked ourselves in for a good night’s sleep in my infamous ’99 Ford Taurus.

Yet there were other times when the Lord supernaturally afforded us a stay at 4-star hotels, with concierge meals, for months at a time. Just when we would kick back to relax, we were again commissioned by the Holy Spirit to walk away from everything.

We were being taught to shun comfortability and embrace the beauty of being content, to despise the false pleasures of this world’s comforts — the life of the rich and famous — to embrace the sweet moments of obscurity in the hidden burrows of Yeshua’s love, the secret place, where the waters never run dry.

The Lord challenged everything I was made of. I had to abandon my opinions, my beliefs, and my predisposed dispositions. He challenged my dreams, my relationships. He even challenged my religion — which to my surprise became a rising idol in my heart. He told me to forsake all and come out from among her.

He said, “Humble yourself underneath the mighty hand of God and be lifted up in due season.”

I was reduced to a small lump of clay, prepared for the hands of the Maker. He began to reshape and mold me after the fashion of His heart. Whenever I thought it was time to rise up, He would crush the clay underneath the palm of His hand once more, only to begin reshaping and remolding me into His perfect work of art.

He said, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

Indeed, my heart began to conform to His likeness. I began to step to the beat of His voice. It became a desire. A pressing need. A fervent willingness to obey.

When He said go, I would go. When He said stay, I would stay. When He said wait, I would wait. When He said speak, I would speak.

Then something else began to transpire. My dreams became His dreams. My goals became His goals. My desires, His desires. My thoughts, His thoughts.

I would think thoughts like, “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is true, because I carry out the will of my Father and not the will of my flesh.”

The word of God became my bread. I ate upon her daily. Wisdom became my friend. She made her abode in my heart. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which can also be translated as “the desire to please God.”

I jumped off the man-made ship into relation-ship with my Father. We began to abide in the ship together. We began to dine together, commune together, as I continued to break bread and drink the blood of His heart, to know Him and the power of His resurrection, to share the cup of His sufferings by being conformed to His death.

That’s when I began to see change, a true rise in my spirit. The old passed away. A new life has come. The beginning of wisdom is our desire to please God.

This is where the Gospel of Jesus Christ begins — the true new birth. It is when we deny ourselves, forsaking all that we have and all that we know. In faith, we take up our cross to follow Christ, trusting that He will lead us to a new life, no matter the cost.

For riches come and go. There will be times of war and times of peace. Times of wealth and lack of meat. Times of joy and times of pain. Times of honor and times of shame.

From the pit to the cave. From the cross to the grave. From the promise to the call. From the slip to the fall. From the tears to the smiles. From the low to the rise… only to be thrown back into the fire to be tested and tried for what you believe. Just like we are tested, God’s hand of deliverance is proven through every trial, snatching us out of the fire in just a nick of time.

For nothing — absolutely nothing — can separate us from the love of God. Not trouble or hardship, persecution or poverty, not danger or death. For we are counted as sheep, headed to the slaughter house to be killed all the day long.

For this cause we should live by Apostle Paul’s example who said, “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have much. I have learned the secret of being content in any given situation, whether famine or feast, in plenty and want.”

I encourage you to read my entire Facebook wall to get a full scope of my testimony. I began documenting the accounts of my personal walk on March 22, 2012. But whether you read it from the bottom, up or from the top, down, the truth remains the same:

“No matter how great the fall, God can raise you greater still.”

Yet even in our seasons of promotion, when our royal kingship is recognized, let us remember to stay humble and pack light, ready to part ways with our possessions at the drop of a hat; for this world is not our home.

As I leave you with the words of Jesus, I pray you will reflect on my testimony. Just like my own heart, there once lived a rich ruler whose heart and religious pride was aggravated by Jesus’ discernment. The rich ruler thought he had done everything possible, according to the eyes of men, to satisfy God’s approval.

But he lacked one thing. He had yet to give his heart to God, his absolute all. When asked to sell everything he had and follow Christ, his heart was deeply saddened. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Therefore, anyone who leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for Christ and for the gospel, will receive much more in this present life. He will receive 100 times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property, and a whole lot of persecution too.

In the age to come, he will receive eternal life and reign with Yeshua, the King. But anyone who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back, is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

In Love,

Malchishuah New

NOTE: This writing was originally posted on my Facebook page. To view more of my testimony, feel free to befriend me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/#!/malchishuah.new